1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a web information processing apparatus and a web information processing method that use information that an arbitrary web page is associated with a broadcast program (hereinafter referred to as a program).
2. Description of the Related Art
Receivers, PCs and the like that, in addition to having the capability to receive broadcast transmissions and output video and audio, are also capable of accessing a server on a computer network and displaying a web page, are now commercially available. Moreover, both broadcasting service providers and communication service providers have advanced a variety of arguments and proposals concerning a fusion of television broadcasting and data communications, and it is not hard to imagine that, in the near future, viewers will be able to get services that use both broadcasting and communications without a conscious distinction between the two. Given this situation, a variety of value-added apparatuses have been proposed.
For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-319279 (D1) describes a digital TV broadcast receiver that detects URL information transmitted as accompanying information for digital TV broadcast data and stores the detected URL information in a URL database. The digital TV broadcast receiver described in D1 is equipped with an internet connection capability as well as the ability to display a list of the URLs stored in the URL database, connect to a URL designated by a user, and display a web page.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-307993 (D2) discloses a system that searches for a TV program guide, recording-reserved programs and recorded programs using features extracted from file object contents on a network and displays relevant programs to the user. Using the displayed program list, the user can reserve recording of a program or play back a recorded program.
In a mobile terminal described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-25661 (D3), information of an associated URL address for a TV reception channel is associated with the TV reception channel and registered in advance. From the registered information it is then determined whether or not a web site relating to the TV broadcast currently being received exists, and if so, that site is accessed, enabling access to an associated web site without the user inputting a URL or selecting from a bookmark.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-192006 (D4) discloses a broadcast receiver that determines whether or not an associated web page for a program being viewed exists from information incorporated in the broadcast transmission, and if so, notifies the user by displaying a message on the screen, displaying the associated web page on a separate screen, and the like.
In addition, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-041856 (D5) discloses a technology in which EPG information such as TV program name and the like is added and stored during bookmark registration, so that, when a web page is browsed while viewing a TV program, a search for a registered bookmark is made with the EPG information of the program being viewed. In the technology disclosed in D5, if the results of the search for a registered bookmark indicate that the there is such a bookmark, that web page is automatically displayed.
However, with the digital TV receiver described in D1, only the URL information is stored in the URL database, and therefore the URL information cannot be linked to a program. Moreover, the URL information cannot be set freely by a user on the program viewing side.
With the system described in D2, a program in which the key word that is extracted from the file object (web page) on the network is contained is extracted as an associated program. As a result, a program related to information that is not included as a text in the web page data (such as text information displayed as an image) cannot be treated as an associated program.
Although each of the apparatuses described in D3 through D5 makes it easy to access a web page associated with a TV broadcast being received, none has the capability to notify the user of a TV broadcast that is associated with that web page.